Indigenous heritage
About Indigenous Heritage
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage is an important part of Australian heritage. Evidence of the occupation of Australia by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people dates back more than 60,000 years. As well as historically important, Indigenous heritage is of continuing significance, creating and maintaining continuous links with the people and the land.
Places that hold great meaning and significance to Indigenous people include:
- places associated with Dreaming stories depicting the laws of the land and how people should behave
- places that are associated with their spirituality
- places where other cultures came into contact with Indigenous people
- places that are significant for more contemporary uses.
Identifying Indigenous heritage places
The Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) establishes the National Heritage List, which includes natural, Indigenous and historic places that are of outstanding heritage value to the nation. The Act also establishes the Commonwealth Heritage List, which comprises natural, Indigenous and historic places on Commonwealth lands and waters or under Australian Government control, and identified by the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts (the Minister) as having Commonwealth Heritage values.
The Australian Heritage Council (the Council) is the Australian Government's expert advisory body on heritage matters. It includes Indigenous experts, who must be Indigenous people with appropriate heritage experience or expertise, at least one of whom represents the interests of Indigenous people on the Council.
Find out about places on the National Heritage List
Find out about places on the Commonwealth Heritage List
Seeking Indigenous views on listings
When a place is nominated for inclusion in the National or Commonwealth Heritage lists, and the Council considers that it may have Indigenous heritage values, the Council must endeavour to identify the Indigenous people with rights and interests in the place. It must then invite their views on whether the place should be included in the list. The Minister takes those submissions into account when making a decision about listing the place.
Protecting Indigenous heritage places
The Indigenous Advisory Committee advises the Minister on the operation of the EPBC Act taking into account their knowledge of the land, conservation and use of biodiversity.
Under the EPBC Act, there are penalties for anyone who takes an action that has or will have a significant impact on the national heritage values of a place.
All states and Territories have legislation that provides blanket protection to Indigenous archaeological sites.
The purposes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984 are the preservation and protection of areas and objects in Australia and in Australian waters that are of particular significance to Aborigines in accordance with Aboriginal tradition.
Find out about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984
Managing Indigenous heritage places
Indigenous Australians are involved in developing management plans for places with Indigenous heritage significance on the National or Commonwealth Heritage lists. National heritage places on Indigenous land can be managed through conservation agreements, which operate in the same way as Indigenous Protected Areas.
Where the Minister considers that the heritage values of a place in the National or Commonwealth Heritage Lists could be significantly damaged by the disclosure of some information, the Minister may decide to make publicly available only a general description of the place, its location or its national heritage values.
National Heritage Listing and native title rights
Entry on the National or Commonwealth Heritage lists does not affect native title rights. Section 8 of the EPBC Act specifically states that nothing within the Act will affect the operation of section 211 of the Native Title Act 1993.
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